 | | 11/4 | UW-R. Falls | 7pm | | 11/13 | Western Ill. | 8pm | | 11/15 | Siena | 7pm | | 11/17 | North Dakota | 7pm | | 11/20 | Georgetown * | 4pm | | 11/22 | Duke/VCU * | TBA | | 11/25 | Prairie V A&M | 7pm | | 11/29 | Oklahoma | 1:30pm | | 12/2 | Syracuse | 6:15pm | | 12/5 | Temple | 11:30am | | 12/9 | Milwaukee | 8pm | | 12/12 | Marquette | 12:30pm | | 12/15 | TA&M CC | 8pm | | 12/23 | Green Bay | 8pm | | 12/29 | Purdue | 6pm | | 1/2 | Rutgers | 1pm | | 1/5 | Indiana | 6pm | | 1/9 | Maryland | TBA | | 1/12 | Northwestern | 6pm | | 1/17 | Michigan St. | TBA | | 1/21 | Penn State | 7pm | | 1/26 | Indiana | 6pm | | 1/31 | Illinois | 6:30pm | | 2/4 | Ohio State | 6pm | | 2/10 | Nebraska | 6pm | | 2/13 | Maryland | 5pm | | 2/18 | Michigan St | 8pm | | 2/21 | Illinois | TBA | | 2/24 | Iowa | 8pm | | 2/28 | Michigan | TBA | | 3/2 | Minnesota | 8pm | | 3/5 | Purdue | TBA | | | | | Key: | | times CT | | Home Game | | | Road Game | | | * 2K Classic | | | Printable Schedule |
 | | 0 | Will Decorah | Jr. | G | | 1 | Brevin Pritzl | Fr. | G | | 2 | Jordan Smith | R-Sr. | G | | 3 | Zak Showalter | R-Jr. | G | | 4 | Matt Ferris | So. | G | | 5 | Aaron Moesch | R-So. | F | | 10 | Nigel Hayes | Jr. | F | | 11 | Jordan Hill | R-So. | G | | 13 | Jackson Bax | Fr. | G | | 15 | Charlie Thomas | Fr. | F | | 20 | T.J. Schlundt | R-Fr. | G | | 21 | Khalil Iverson | Fr. | G | | 22 | Ethan Happ | R-Fr. | F | | 24 | Bronson Koenig | Jr. | G | | 25 | Alex Illikainen | Fr. | F | | 30 | Vitto Brown | Jr. | F | | 33 | Andy Van Vliet | Fr. | F | | 35 | Riley Dearring | R-So. | G | | Complete Roster |
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NOVEMBER 3-8
WISCONSIN TIPS OFF 2015-16 WITH EXHIBITION VS. UW-RIVER FALLS
Wisconsin begins its 117th season of men's basketball in 2015-16 and the 15th season under head coach Bo Ryan. Things get underway Wednesday night with an exhibition against UW-River Falls at 7 p.m. (CT) at the Kohl Center. The game will be streamed live on BTN Plus.
The Badgers look to replace five of the top seven scorers from a season ago, but do return a pair of starters in juniors Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig. Overall, Wisconsin brings back 38.1 percent of its minutes played from last season. UW returns 34.3 percent of its scoring, 31.5 percent of its rebounding and 40.5 percent of its assists.
| Exhibition  |  #17 Wisconsin vs. UW-River Falls |
| Date | Wednesday, Nov. 4 Â | Â 7 p.m. (CT) |
| Location | Madison, Wis. Â | Â Kohl Center |
| Watch | BTN Plus |
| Listen | Radio |  1310 AM |
| Updates | Live Stats |  @BadgerMBB |
| Notes | Wisconsin |  UW-River Falls |
NOTES TO KNOW
1 BACK-TO-BACK? Defending Big Ten regular season and tournament champions, the Badgers enter the 2015-16 season seeking back-to-back conference titles for the first time since 2002-03. Wisconsin will also take aim at a third-consecutive Final Four appearance, something only 11 schools have done in the history of the NCAA tournament. The most recent team to turn the three-peat was UCLA (2006-08).
2 BATTLE-TESTED BADGERS:Â Wisconsin will play a total of 13 games vs. teams in the 2015 NCAA Tournament field, with 8 of those coming away from home. During the non-conference schedule, the Badgers will travel to Oklahoma and Syracuse, host Marquette and Temple, as well as taking on Georgetown and either Duke or VCU at the 2K Classic in New York City.
3 BO KNOWS:Â The winningest coach in Wisconsin history (357-125, .741), Bo Ryan currently ranks ninth in conference history with 172 career Big Ten wins. With a career record of 172-68 (.717), Ryan owns the highest Big Ten winning percentage in conference history.
4 ONE OF THE BEST: Entering his 32nd season as a head coach, Ryan ranks 28th on the NCAA’s all-time wins list with a record of 740-228 (.764). Among active Div. I coaches, Ryan’s 740 wins place him 5th. Ryan’s career winning percentage of .764 is 3rd only to North Carolina’s Roy Williams (.788) and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (.767) among active coaches with 600 wins. Among all-time coaches with 600 career wins (regardless of NCAA classification), Ryan’s winning percentage ranks 10th.
5 STUDENT-ATHLETES: The University of Wisconsin is one of just two schools to have its men’s basketball team ranked in ESPN.com’s preseason Top 25 and be rated among the top 25 in the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities. The Badgers sit at No. 24 in the ESPN.com poll and UW is listed at No. 24 in the ARWU, which annually ranks more than 1,200 universities worldwide. Cal (No. 12 AP, No. 4 ARWU) is the only other school to make both lists.
6 POLL POSITION: Wisconsin begins the 2015-16 ranked No. 17 in the AP Preseason Top 25. The Badgers finished the 2014-15 season ranked No. 2 in the Coaches Poll. Wisconsin has been ranked in the AP preseason poll in each of the last four seasons (No. 3 in 2014-15) and six of the last nine.
7 ON, WISCONSIN: Including last year’s run to the national championship game and the football team’s win in the Outback Bowl, Wisconsin has earned an NCAA men’s basketball tournament invitation and qualified for a bowl game in each of the last 13 years. That’s the longest such streak of two-sport success in the nation, with Michigan State (8 years), Louisville (5) and San Diego State (5) owning the nextlongest active runs.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2015-16Â
Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3 Â | Â Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 9/5Â
- Wisconsin looks to replace five of the top seven scorers from a year ago, but does return a pair of starters in juniors Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig. Overall, the Badgers bring back 38.1% of their minutes played from last season. UW will bring back 34.3% of its scoring, 31.5% of its rebounding and 40.5% of their assists.
- The 2015-16 season will mark the first year under Bo Ryan in which the Badgers do not have a scholarship senior. The only senior on the roster is walk-on guard Jordan Smith. Wisconsin has had at least one senior starter in each of Ryan’s first 14 seasons in Madison. In fact, the Badgers have started at least two seniors in 10 of those 14 seasons.
- UW returns four players from last season’s nine-man rotation:
FRONTCOURT:Â
    Nigel Hayes, Jr., F (12.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg) - Third-team All-Big Ten; 9th in Big Ten shooting 49.7% overall and 3rd on UW shooting 39.6% from 3s; 4 career double-doubles
    Vitto Brown, Jr., F (2.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg) - Played in 34 games as a soph. averaging 6.3 mpg
BACKCOURT
    Bronson Koenig, Jr., G (8.7 ppg, 2.5 apg) - Started final 24 games; 4th on the team in points and 2nd in assists; 2nd on team shooting 40.5% on 3s; 3.0 assist-to-TO Ratio
    Zak Showalter, Jr., G (2.1 ppg, 1.3 rpg) - Redshirt junior averaged 7.6 minutes off the bench; career-high 9 points vs. Indiana (Feb. 3, 2015)
-Â The Badgers will gain the services of redshirt freshmen Ethan Happ and T.J. Schlundt in 2014- 15, who both redshirted in their first year on campus. UW will also add five true freshmen to their roster in 2015-16, Alex Illikainen (Grand Rapids, Minn.), Khalil Iverson (Delaware, Ohio), Brevin Pritzl (De Pere, Wis.), Charlie Thomas (Highland, Md.), Andy Van Vliet (Brasschaat, Belgium).
| NOTES
Complete men's basketball game notes in printable PDF format. |
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LOOKING BACK ON 2014-15
Record: 36-4 Â | Â Big Ten: 16-2 (1st)
-Â Playing in its 17th-consecutive NCAA tournament after earning the first No. 1 seed in school history, Wisconsin returned to the Final Four for the 2nd-straight season and the 4th time in school history. UW is just the 9th Big Ten team in history to reach back-to-back national semifinals. With a 71-64 win over No. 1 Kentucky, the Badgers advanced to their first national championship game since 1941. UW would fall to Duke in the title game, 68-63.
-Â UW set a new school single-season record with 36 wins, winning at least 30 games in back-to-back seasons and the 4th time in program history (all 4 since 2007). Kansas (6) and Duke (5) are the only school in the nation with more 30-win seasons since 2007.
-Â At 36-4, UW is just the 3rd Big Ten team to win at least 35 games in a season and the first since Ohio State (35-3) in 2006-07. The B1G record is 37 wins by Illinois in 2004-05.
-Â After winning 3 games in 3 days in Chicago, the Badgers added 2015 Big Ten Tournament Champions to a resume that already included the outright 2015 regular-season championship. With a mark of 16-2, UW matched its best-ever 18-game conference record and claimed the 18th regular season championship in school history and the 4th title under Bo Ryan (also in 2002, 2003 and 2008).
-Â Senior Frank Kaminsky put together the greatest season in Wisconsin history, becoming the first Badger player to earn consensus National Player of the Year honors. The 21st consensus All-American in school history, Kaminsky swept the national awards winning the Wooden, the Naismith, the Robertson and the AP Player of the Year. Kaminsky averaged 18.8 points, 8.2 rebounds while shooting 54.7% overall and 41.6% from 3-point range.
-Â The 2015 Big Ten Coach of the Year and 1 of 4 finalists for the Naismith National Coach of the Year, Bo Ryan was named one of 12 finalists for the Naismith Hall of Fame Class of 2015.
-Â Kaminsky and junior Sam Dekker became the first Badgers duo to be drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft. Selected 9th overall by Charlotte, Kaminsky is the 2nd-highest drafted UW player in the last 60 years. Dekker was picked 9 spots later by the Houston Rockets. Senior Duje Dukan also signed a rookie contract with the Sacramento Kings.
- Bronson Koenig took over the starting point guard job in early January and started the final 24 games of the season. As a starter, Koenig averaged 11.5 ppg, shooting 50-for-113 (.442) on 3FGs. Overall on the season, Koenig’s 3.0 A/TO ratio was the top mark in the Big Ten (min. 90 assists).
- According to Ken Pomeroy’s rankings, UW boasted the No. 1 offense in the nation, averaging 127.9 points per 100 possessions. During conference play, UW ranked 2nd in the Big Ten in scoring (70.3 ppg) and tops in shooting (47.7%).
-Â The 2014 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, Nigel Hayes earned third-team All-Big Ten last season after averaging 12.4 ppg and 6.2 rpg while starting all 40 games. He shot 49.7% on the season, including 39.6% (40-101) from 3-point range, just one year after not attempting a single trey in 2013-14.
- UW led the nation in fewest fouls (12.5 avg.), fewest turnovers (7.4 TOs avg.) and fewest opposing FTAs per game (11.7). The Badgers also ranked 12th in the NCAA in scoring D (58.2 ppg). On the year, the Badgers MADE 584 free throws while their opponents ATTEMPTED 469 free throws. UW’s +115 differential was the highest in the nation.
- Wisconsin improved to 37-8 (.822) away from home over the last two seasons (21-3 in 2014-15), owning the most road/neutral wins and the 2nd-best win percentage away from home among major conference teams. ? The Badgers sold out all 16 home games in 2014-15, averaging a Big Ten-best 17,279 per game. That figure also ranked 5th in the nation, trailing only Syracuse, Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina. UW has led the Big Ten in attendance in 10 of the last 13 seasons and has finished among the nation’s top 7 in each of the last 15 years.
